2 days ago
President of Daley's ambulance company, started by his dad, dies at 67
A memorial service is planned for John 'Jack' Daley III, president and chief executive officer of Daley's Medical Transportation, who died June 23, according to the company.
The Oak Lawn resident was 67, and Daley's said he was surrounded by family and friends at home when he died following a long battle with pancreatic cancer.
Dolton-based Daley's operates Bud's Ambulance, which provides paramedic-level ambulance response to 10 south suburbs. It also has a Joliet division that operates as Daley's Ambulance.
Daley's Ambulance was founded in Harvey in 1950 by Daley's father, John 'Bud' Daley Jr.
Daley's Medical said Daley was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in May 2023, and he was 'determined not to let cancer hold him back. Even chemotherapy wasn't going to stop him from running ambulance calls.'
'Helping other people and caring for patients is what kept him alive,' the company said in announcing his passing.
'Jack Daley will always be the strongest and most resilient person we have ever known,' the company said.
Daley's survivors include his wife and four daughters. The company said a memorial service will be announced at a later date.
The company said Daley was a paramedic for 49 years in south Cook County and had been a police officer with the Burnham Police Department since 1980, rising to the rank of sergeant and serving on the South Suburban Major Crimes Task Force for more than 10 years.
The company's main office has been in Dolton since 1972 and it also has a location in Joliet that opened in 2012.
John 'Bud' Daley founded the business in September 1950 after serving in the military, first as a corpsman in Korea then later managing a military ambulance on the Philippine Islands, according to a company history.
Daley left the military in 1949, then after returning stateside worked for an ambulance company in Fargo, North Dakota, according to the company's history.
The business was based at his home in Harvey, and Daley, in 1955, married Betty, who became his partner in the business and would answer the phone and communicate on the radio perched on the kitchen table.
Daley's Ambulance, as it was known at the time, started with two used ambulances — a 1936 LaSalle and 1946 Packard — according to the company.
It was Daley's experience in the military and overseeing the Army ambulance that made him realize that 'medically trained personnel should be available to everyone in a time of need,' according to the company.
Daley died in 2001, and Jack formed Bud's Ambulance at the time.
Daley's Medical Transportation also operates Daley's Ambulance in Will County.
It responds to 911 calls in Rockdale and also serves multiple health care facilities in Will County, according to the company.
Nearly all of Daley's employees are either trained and certified as emergency medical technicians or paramedics, according to John McGehee, vice president of administration.
The company requires that executives go out on ambulance runs and work alongside crews on a regular basis.
